


Oh It's That Time Of The Year Again

by Amanda_Yates



Series: Merlin Kids Series [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Kid Gwaine, Kids, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 19:08:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4931779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amanda_Yates/pseuds/Amanda_Yates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A very early christmas one-shot! Arthur/Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh It's That Time Of The Year Again

**Oh It’s That Time Of The Year Again**

“NO! I WON’T GO DRESSED AS THE GREEN ELF! I WON’T!”

“MERLIN!” Arthur shouted just as their son ran pel mel from the room jumping and rolling off his bed and going out the door quicker than a flashlight before Arthur could catch him in his arms.

Merlin who was working on his next novel on his lap top sighed and rose up from his swivel chair knowing Arthur’s uproar could only mean one thing, trouble with their son Gwaine.

Arthur came running down the stairs just as Merlin heard the downstairs bathroom door open and close shut again.

“WHERE IS HE? Where is he?” Arthur asked as he looked around for Gwaine and Merlin bit his lip in order to stop himself from smiling.

In as casual a tone as he could muster Merlin asked “What seems to be the problem?”

Arthur fumed eyes glaring daggers at Merlin as he shouted “What’s the problem? What’s the problem? I’ll tell you what the damn fucking problem is, it’s that your son is being an absolute pain in the arse again!”

“Our five year old son is being a pain in your arse?”

Arthur stopped looking mutinous and narrowed his eyes at Merlin, hissing so that Gwaine would not hear were he hiding conveniently behind the sofa cushion Arthur whisper shouted “You were the one who insisted we adopt him, I told you he was going to drive us up the wall…like he always did in Camelot!”

Merlin huffed and rolled his eyes as he took Arthur’s shoulders in a firm grip and said “You know what your problem is, you’re not seeing him as a little five year old boy whose acting his age…you’re still seeing the Gwaine of Camelot, you’re hot headed knight and you’re still thinking that hailing ‘I’m your King, thou must obey me’ is going to work on our Gwaine!”

Arthur sighed and his shoulders slumped as the tension melted out of him, he supposed Merlin did have a point, whenever Gwaine tended to get hard to handle which was most of the time Arthur was reminded all too much of their Gwaine of Camelot and thus handled the situation in an utterly disastrous manner which making little Gwaine throw a tantrum the likes of which even Arthur had not thrown when he was a child.

Arthur didn’t know this child rearing business could be so exhausting. He’d never had the chance for it in all his previous lives after all and this was the only century in which gay marriage was legal and they could adopt if they wanted to.

Suffice to say Merlin had taken one look at an orphaned Gwaine and decided he was the one.

“Where is he?” asked Arthur a lot calmer now and Merlin opened his mouth to tell him when they heard an almighty screech from the bathroom.

They both turned to the door as one, alarmed expression on their faces before the door opened and Gwaine tumbled out and ran straight for them.

“PAPA!!! There’s a lizard in the bathroom!”

Gwaine crashed into Merlin’s legs and insisted with his arms raised “Lift me up, lift me up!”

Merlin obliged lifting an over exited Gwaine into his arms just as Arthur shook his head an epiphany alighting in his head as Gwaine looked over at the bathroom still clutching at Merlin tightly.

Arthur went and shut the bathroom door before he turned around and said to Gwaine, “Daddy won’t let any lizard come close to you okay…now about the dress…”

Gwaine seemed to forget all about the lizard as he shouted from Merlin’s arms “I WON’T DRESS AS ELF! I WON’T, I WON’T”

Arthur hated to ask Merlin for help but he was really out of his depth now and he looked at Merlin helpless.

“And why don’t you want to dress as an elf Gwaine?” asked Merlin softly giving Arthur a ‘duh, did you even bother to ask’ look.

Gwaine huffed curling into Merlin’s neck and said “Because they’re green and ugly and weak! I want to dress as a Knight!”

Merlin said “Figures…” to Arthur who smiled now thinking that’s about right, no wonder Gwaine wanted to dress up as a knight, he’d been born for it back in Camelot.

“Now why do you think Knights are better than elves?” asked Merlin settling down on the sofa with Gwaine still curled on his lap.

Arthur came and sat down as well, he just knew this was not a debate Merlin was going to win, Arthur had been trying to wrestle Gwaine into the elves costume for an hour and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to gloat when Merlin inevitably failed.

“Because they are strong and big and pretty and girls love them!”

Merlin and Arthur shared a look over Gwaine’s head, no wonder his lecherousness was showing even now.

“But you see that’s where you are wrong, elves are strong too in their own way, they have magic! Wouldn’t you like to have magic? I bet girls are more attracted to magic than a knight who can only dangle a sword don’t you think?”

Gwaine looked at Merlin, his little brown eyes filled with dubiousness, “Papa magic isn’t real!” he chastised.

Merlin gasped exaggeratedly and Arthur cast his eyes skyward in want of rolling his eyes, “Gwaine! There’s magic everywhere in the world, real and strong…only…you have to believe in it!”

Merlin eskimo kissed Gwaine’s nose and Gwaine giggled, little peals of laughter that made Arthur smile automatically.

“So will you co-operate with daddy and try on the costume now?” Merlin asked prying Gwaine’s arms away from his neck.

Gwaine pulled away like he’d been burned and with a recalcitrant glower he proclaimed “No I won’t, I want to dress as a knight!”

Arthur chuckled at Merlin’s wide eyed disbelief as Gwaine ran away once again back up the stairs to his room.

“Seems you aren’t any good at this parenting lark than I am Mer-lin!” Arthur taunted as Merlin scowled at him now and snapped “Well buy him a Knight’s costume then and be done with it!”

“Merlin!” Arthur huffed exasperated “The school Christmas play doesn’t have a Knight character! It was either this or Santa!”

Merlin then rose up from the sofa and smiled gleefully at Arthur, “Well I hope you have a great time persuading him into the costume then…”

Arthur hated it when Merlin became a cheeky bastard and he sniped “Why do I have to be the only one trying to get our son to see sense here, _he’s our son which_ means you have to contribute too!”

Merlin turned around immediately at that a pressed an indignant finger to Arthur’s chest, “I managed fine last year when he was asked to dress up as drummer boy without your help if you remember and you were the one who chose this ridiculous part for him so….chop chop, get to it!”

“But Merlin!”

“Nope!”

“Merlin!”

The door to their bedroom slammed shut and Arthur cast a glance up towards Gwaine’s room, oh this asked for some very nefarious subterfuge.

The next day Gwaine was standing in his tight green leggings, complete with elf ears and red belts and a plastic green nose and he was scowling so fiercely Arthur was sure he was going to throw a tantrum the minute the play was over.

“He doesn’t look too happy…” Merlin said and Arthur hummed.

“How did you manage it anyway?” Merlin asked turning to Arthur looking for all the world like he couldn’t believe Arthur had managed to accomplish something on his own and Arthur was transported back to the times in Camelot when Merlin directed exactly this look on him and Arthur was none the wiser.

Arthur smirked however and only said “A magician never reveals their tricks Merlin…”

And if a day later Gwaine was terrorizing Hunith in her country house wearing child sized cape, boots, vambraces and metal chest plates and brandishing a pointy plastic sword which nevertheless had the capability to take an eye out and had left a whole in Hunith’s sofa cushions then Arthur had nothing to do with it at all, nothing.

“Gwaine! No don’t go sticking that thing in the orchid patches, No! GWAINE!”

Arthur smiled sublimely as Merlin yelled and gave chase after their five year old son bent on world destruction with his little plastic sword.


End file.
